Bill Arthurs was preparing to work as an accountant after graduation from Tulane University in 1965 when he was invited instead to teach business at the fledgling Roman Catholic boys high school in Metairie. As the job also included an opportunity to coach the basketball team, Arthurs, who had played basketball in high school and college, didn't hesitate.

Thousands of students later, Arthurs, now in his late 60s, is still on the faculty, teaching computer applications and web design. As such, the self-professed computer geek and school photographer roamed the gymnasium floor Friday capturing every moment of Archbishop Rummel High School's 50th anniversary Mass.

With Rummel embarking on a yearlong celebration, Arthurs, the school's senior employee, was among those reminiscing about the early years, back when Severn Avenue was little more than a shell road, Interstate 10 didn't exist west of Causeway Boulevard and West Napoleon Avenue didn't exist at all.

Still, Jefferson Parish's population was exploding, and it was clear to the Archdiocese of New Orleans that Metairie as well as the West Bank needed their own Catholic high schools. A committee appointed to find suitable space for four schools recommended a collection of lots along Severn south of what would become West Napoleon. A member of the legal team that negotiated the sale described the site, which cost $200,000, as "pasture land fenced for cattle grazing."

Soon came time to name the school.

"The school's board members "argued that since he had lived beyond the biblical lifespan of three score and ten, and had achieved more for education than all his predecessors combined, it was an obligation that the new school be called Archbishop Joseph Francis Rummel," school spokesman Joe Serio said. "After much protestation, the archbishop relented."

At the ground-breaking in September 1961, Rummel was invited to turn the first spade of dirt. A year later, the school welcomed a freshman class of 245 boys. The faculty consisted of five Christian Brothers and four lay teachers.

Jefferson Parish's three other Catholic high schools opened that year as well: Archbishop Shaw, also a boys school in Gretna, and two girls schools, Archbishop Chapelle in Metairie and the now-shuttered Archbishop Blenk in Gretna.

John McCusker, The Times-PicayuneBill Arthurs teaching a class last week. Arthrus has been teaching at Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie since 1965.

Chuck Credo III was in Rummel's third graduating class, having enrolled shortly after his family moved to Metairie. There was no senior class when he arrived, and Credo liked the idea that he was part of something new.

"Rummel was a pretty neat place to be in the '60s," said Credo. "Looking back, we were building a tradition whereas everybody else had their traditions. The students bonded with one another. We were all kind of in the same boat."

Credo's two brothers and a cousin eventually enrolled, and when Credo's own son was preparing for high school, there was little question as to where he would go.

"He certainly looked at other high schools," Credo said of Chuck Credo IV, who graduated from Rummel in 1998. "But he wanted to be part of a legacy. He enjoyed his time there, and we're all still closely associated with the school."

In its first half century, Rummel has seen its shares of highs and lows. One of its proudest moments occurred just two weeks after Hurricane Katrina when it reopened to its own students as well as hundreds of students displaced from other Catholic schools.

"I still think Rummel didn't receive the accolades it deserved," Arthurs said. "We started a whole school and brought in 2,000 stray students. It was the right thing to do at the time."

Katrina, though, is partly to blame for Rummel's lower enrollment these days. Before the storm, about 1,200 boys attended. Today, enrollment is about 820, a figure that school officials also attribute to the economy, tuition-free public magnet schools and the addition of lower grades at competing Catholic high schools. Rummel's annual tuition is $6,750.

Scalco, Class of 1967, said boosting enrollment is one of his goals, and he plans to capitalize on the excitement surrounding the 50th anniversary to do it.

Myles Seghers, an early teacher and principal who is now acting president of Our Lady of Holy Cross College in Algiers, said Scalco might have to go beyond the Catholic community to recruit.

"When you factor in the economy, it's a heavy financial commitment for parents," Seghers said, referring to all Catholic schools. "But I still think it's a good value for the money. It's a good environment where values are stressed, and it's a safe environment where students are well prepared for going on to higher education."

At Friday's anniversary Mass, Aymond touched on what has changed and what has stayed the same at Rummel.

"Faculty members have come and gone, parents have come and gone and buildings have been added," he said. "But in 50 years, there are some things that have not changed, and that is Raider pride.

"Teenage boys come here as eighth graders and they graduate as men of faith, and in 50 years that hasn't changed. They leave with the imprint of God in their hearts."